1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for managing data files, had more specifically, a system and method for providing a convenient display of file contents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers with list managing software can be very helpful in managing files having lists of many data elements. However, while many existing applications make use of these lists, existing applications do not provide the user with flexibility in handling either the display or the ordering of data elements of the file lists. An example of such applications is an Internet browser.
The Internet provides a vast resource for commerce and information. To access the Internet, most people use a Internet browser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox or others. Users of the Internet access different websites by directing their web browsers to the website's Uniform Resource Locator or URL by inputting the URL into the address bar (Internet Explorer) or location bar (Mozilla). The web browser keeps track of the URLs for each of the websites visited. Users can access this list of the visited URL by accessing the list of URLs provided to the address/location bar. This list or history is a stored sequence of all of the URLs that have been accessed by the user. In most Internet browsers, this list of URL addresses is contained in a website address file on the local computer which is maintained in a specific sequence. The user is given very little capability to rearrange or order the contents, directly from the browser or the local website address file.
Web browser users through the existing web browser list manager have the capability to 1) adjust the number of URLs stored by the web browser or 2) the length of time that URLs are stored. Access to this URL list is very convenient for the user since many times, the user needs to again access a previously accessed URL. However, with the exception of deleting a single item on the list, the list manager of web browsers do not allow users to adjust or edit the contents of this list even though, many times, a user would either like to change a URL, or group a URL with other URLs in order to access them more easily. This lack of flexibility makes it difficult for users to efficiently use their web browsers. What is needed is a more flexible file manager to allow users to fully control their URL lists.